10 BLOCK RADIUS MODEL OF POSITIVE YOUTH DEVELOPMENT

Programs and Services
The Siblings Together USA, Inc. 10-Block Radius Model is a continuum of services that not only address the needs of youth, but also the needs of the community in the District of Columbia. The model establishes the importance of giving to the community while in the process of receiving, thus preventing too much of a heavy burden being placed on the community resources.
In the past five years, Siblings Together USA have hosted invaluable abundance of resources that helped address and drive the components of the 10-Block Radius Model and encompasses all of the areas presented in the Afrocentric Socialization Paradigm. The Siblings Together USA, Inc. Positive Youth Development, Education, and Leadership (PYDEL) Institute, is the main artery from which these services are provided.
PYDEL Institute operates from an outcomes-based modality and has the specific task of monitoring expected outcomes, determining the inputs and activities needed to achieve those outcomes, as well as devising and developing new programs based on “Best Practices” and the needs of youth in the District.
​

---

What happens when the community stops “teaching” and ceases to be a source of support for the youth in the community?
​

The answer is simple the development of the youth becomes disjointed and void of structure and order. There is a disengagement of the family, home, culture and value system that was once embedded in the life experiences of a developing youth. Overtime, the effects of disengagement begins to mask previous positive experiences and lessons taught, until the once strong familial and communal bonds, values and beliefs become blurred memories, fading with each passing day.
 
Positive experiences are overshadowed by negatives ones and youth no longer rely on their families or the community for support resulting in a “new socialization” that lacks values and in many cases, a common goal for the common good. This problem is of even greater concern for youth who are often placed in systems of care outside of their community and where their “teachers” are ever changing, with every move. This can cause a disengagement from the community and those around them, often resulting in a feeling of isolation.
 
This isolation can often interfere with the young persons’ development of self, causing them to shut down because of fear due to a lack of knowledge, success, and opportunities.
​

10-Block Radius Model

In response to this growing concern over the future of youth, Siblings Together USA, Inc. has implemented a 10-Block Radius Model where young people are provided opportunities for Positive Youth Development, Education, Training, and Leadership Development, while also reconnecting them with the community that will support them through their transition into adulthood and beyond. The model focuses on rebuilding the familial and communal infrastructure that is so imperative to the development of our youth. The model requires redefining responsibilities, as it relates to youth development, and increasing the quantity of role models who can assist in the teaching of youth, strengthening the communities surrounding the youth, so that they in turn can empower and support the youth that are left in their care, once they have emancipated from the foster care system.
           
The model will create:
 
1).        Lifelong connections to family which can be supplemented by a strong social network of support, as well as,
 
2).        Teach youth how to achieve competence in building relationship needed to participate successfully in family and community life as well as in the workplace.
 
How will goals be accomplished?
 
1).        Providing the knowledge necessary to assist with skill development; (knowledge obtained from the classroom, as well as the community).
 
2).        Empowering youth by utilizing a positive youth development approach that incorporates an Afrocentric foundation for teaching life skills and offers “real world” experiences to practice those skills, increasing community links and collaboration, strengthening familial and community relationships, providing ongoing connections to supportive adults that will stay with them long after they have emancipated from the foster care system which decreases the need for a formal after-care services.
Siblings Together USA (STU)’s GED/Adult Basic Education, Youth-build, Life Skills, and Employment training programs. The Siblings Together USA, Inc. Positive Youth Development, Education and Leadership (PYDEL) Institute, is located on the second floor.  The Institute is home to the ABE/GED, Employment, and Youth development programs. While the office is located in the basement of the building.
​

RATIONAL FOR THE 10-BLOCK RADIUS MODEL

RATIONAL FOR THE 10-BLOCK RADIUS MODEL:
In response to this growing concern over the future of youths in the District of Columbia, Siblings Together USA implemented a 10-Block Radius Model where young people are provided opportunities for Positive Youth Development, Education, Job Training, and Leadership Development, while also reconnecting them with the community that will support them through their transition into adulthood and beyond.
The model focuses on rebuilding the familial and communal infrastructure that is so imperative to the development of our youths in the city.  The model requires redefining responsibilities, as it relates to youth development, and increasing the quantity of role models who can assist in the teaching of youth, strengthening the communities surrounding the youth, so that they in turn can empower and support the youth that are left in their care, once they have emancipated from the system of care in the city.
The Objectives of the 10-BLOCK RADIUS MODEL is to create:
1) Lifelong connections to family which can be supplemented by a strong social network of support, as well as,
2) Teach youth how to achieve competence in building relationship needed to participate successfully in family and community life as well as in the workplace.
How will goals be accomplished?
1) Providing the knowledge necessary to assist with skill development; (knowledge obtained from the classroom, as well as the community).
2) Empowering youth by utilizing a positive youth development approach that incorporates an Afrocentric foundation for teaching life skills and offers “real world” experiences to practice those skills, increasing community links and collaboration, strengthening familial and community relationships, providing ongoing connections to supportive adults that will stay with them long after they have emancipated from the system of care, which decreases the need for a formal after-care services.
The Siblings Together USA’s 10-Block Radius Model, “A Paradigm For the Positive Development of youth in the District of Columbia, in the following areas:
​

The Siblings Together USA’s 10-Block Radius Model, “A Paradigm For the Positive Development

Educational Reinforcement:
This component provides youth with information and resources that are generally not accessible in the traditional public (or private) school setting.
 
Siblings Together USA, Inc. utilizes a holistic curriculum for Life Skills and places special emphasis on Black History in our Adult Basic Education and GED program.  The lessons are also reinforced by “real world” opportunities within the 10-Block Radius and throughout the District of Columbia.
 
Teaching from an Afrocentric/holistic perspective provides hope, displays strength, and prepares youth to achieve their optimum abilities and develop a world view rooted in our history, culture and collective identity, struggle and destiny.
 
The Value System:
 The value system serves as the foundation for all of the enhancement segments and is the primary determinant for behavior. 
 
A common value system is important to the overall continuity and long-term outcomes that we want youth to achieve as they pass from one phase to the next.
 
Values are derived through connections to the family, friends and the community.  The 10-Block Radius Model provides guidance to youth by orchestrating opportunities for youth to interact with positive influences within the community. 
 
Cultural Diversity/Values:
Culture serves as the basis for a person’s behavior, attitudes and values. Much of traditional Black culture has been distorted, denigrated and misrepresented, thus it is important to expose our youth to cultural activities and programs that provide them with a true sense of their history and heritage.
 
The community is always a rich source for such activities and programs. From providing literature about what’s happening in the community, to engaging in local activities being provided by the members of the community. Whatever the source of the activity, it is sufficient to say that culturally enriched activities and the creative arts can play an important role in the socialization of youth

Economic Development:
 It is commonly agreed that economics play a vital role in the development and maintenance of a viable community.  Unfortunately, many black communities have failed to sustain some of the economic vitality they had prior to the Civil Rights Movement.  As a result, this generation of Youth has not been exposed, except in a few communities, to the presence of Black owned businesses, banks and entrepreneurs in our community.  However, such exposure is important to youth if we expect them to develop an interest and acquire the skills that help to make for viable economically grounded communities.
 
Therefore, Siblings Together USA, Inc. ensures that youth in our programs receive financial literacy training, are connected to and receive mentoring & on-the job training from local business owners in the 10-Block Radius; that youth obtain and master the necessary skills for obtaining employment in the job market, and that they are encouraged and taught how to become business owners and entrepreneurs, as well as instilling in them the value of cooperative economics.
 
Family Preservation:
 Despite the current fragile status of the Black family, the family itself still remains the primary institution for shaping and modifying the behavior of its members, therefore emphasis must be placed on strengthening the family, whether it is extended or intergenerational.
 
This is even more imperative for youth because they will often return to their biological or extended family once they emancipate and if the family unit itself is not strong, the youth will have difficulty sustaining the level of development achieved while in care. As a result, Siblings Together USA, Inc. takes pride and insists on getting involved with the biological and extended family while the youth is in care.  We also provide educational support, employment training and support, as well as moral support to the family identified by the youth.  In cases where more intensive services are needed, Siblings Together USA, Inc. ensures that the family is referred for the appropriate services within the community, which is why building relationships in the community is so imperative.

Community Empowerment:
 Strong Black communities are necessary to ensure that youth live in the type of environment that enhances their socialization.  The members of the community must be empowered if they are to have primary control over the institutions that are critical to the socialization of our youth.
 
The components of community empowerment include:
 
1). Institution building – building and maintaining Black institutions;
 
2) Economic development-develop jobs for youth and build, support and expand Black businesses;
3) Community services (teaching the importance of making a contribution to the community, instead of always taking);
 
4) Legal support;
 
5) Political awareness, and
 
6) Community Preservation. By empowering the community, we are also empowering the youth to become advocates for themselves and others.
  
Health Maintenance:
 
The overall health status of youth is also of great concern.  Many of the health problems black adults face can be traced to childhood.  Lack of proper immunizations, poor physical fitness and nutrition practices, insufficient medical attention, sexually promiscuous behavior, teen pregnancy, substance abuse, and mental health issues are all indicators of future well-being.
 
In order for youth to live long, healthy lives, they must be taught that “their” bodies are their temples and without the proper care, the temple will eventually begin to disintegrate which is why Siblings Together USA, Inc.’s 10-Block Radius Model includes collaborations with doctors, dentists, and clinics within Siblings Together USA, Inc.’s headquarters and the 10-Block Radius. 
 
Life skills lessons include information about health and nutrition and are reinforced with actual “real world” experiences during trips to the grocery store and cooking lessons that are taught in the Siblings Together USA, Inc. training kitchen.  Life skill lessons also incorporate physical fitness training which is made available through the Washington DC Boxing & Fitness Club, located in the basement of Siblings Together USA, Inc.’s headquarters.  These skills introduce our youth to alternative forms of stress management that do not include drugs or sexually promiscuous behavior.
 
Because we recognize that our youth may not understand the impact that certain choices have on their futures, Siblings Together USA, Inc. also provides our youth with training about substance abuse and the effects of drugs on the mind and body, sex education and parenting, as well as counseling for mental health and spiritual development.

Spiritual Development:
 Historically, spiritual development has served as a basis for Black people to acknowledge our belief in the Creator, our oneness with nature, our faith in our ancestors, and our inherent ability to rise above adversity.  Many of our youth today, have drifted from this spirituality and, therefore, are disconnected from life-affirming attributes that bond Black people with the Creator, with nature, and with our ancestors.  If youth are to overcome the social pollutants that contaminate our natural development, they must regain a propensity for spiritual growth, not tied to any particular religious group or belief.
 
At Siblings Together USA, Inc., F.A.I.T.H program stands for Fulfilling Adolescent Independence Through Helping-Hands. It connects youth with caring adults through the Faith-Based community.  Mentors and volunteers provide supportive relationships for our youth, relationships that can last long after emancipation from the system of care.
 
Socialization:
 Socialization is the process that prepares people to meet the tasks that make up the human development cycle in a particular society or culture.  In America, this principle can pose a problem for some youth, and especially youth in the District of Columbia, because these tasks often reflect a Eurocentric view of the world and its relationship to white youth.  These tasks are then claimed by white America to be appropriate for all, yet the resources and institutions needed to achieve them are not accessible to most youth.
 
Many youth, however, generally refuse to accept these sanctions and develop their own sanctions for socialization, which are invariably in conflict with white America.  They too the desire the American Dream, but have chosen to achieve it under their own terms.  Their terms, unfortunately, do not always serve the best interest of the community and often induce self-defeating and self-destructive behavior.
 
 

 
​

---

See Some Examples

View More